Strength
by MissBarbieAnne
Summary: A continuation to my previous story, "Captured". Takes place at the hospital where Ruby is recovering from her ordeal with Liam and Vida there to comfort her.
1. Part 1

By the time we got to the hospital, breathing was becoming difficult. I had puked three more times, with Liam rubbing my back the whole time. Then, it felt like I was trying to breathe through a pillow. My whole body felt like it was on fire, from both the fever and the pain.

Liam rushed me into the hospital while Vida went to find a parking spot in ER parking. My lips were starting to turn blue, and I could see my fingertips were as well. My body was not getting enough oxygen, but I couldn't seem to pull anything into my lungs.

"I need help! Please! She's been poisoned!" Liam burst throw the doors hollering. Within minutes, two nurses were on the scene with another pushing the stretcher. An oxygen mask was strapped to my face, but I could already feel myself fading in and out of consciousness.

One nurse stayed back with Liam while the other two rushed me back to the Intensive Care Unit. I saw the letters "ICU" on the door as we passed through, but then my eyes rolled back and I faded out.

When I woke up again, an oxygen cannula was strapped to my face. I had sweat sticking to my forehead. There was a needle sticking into my arm attached to a bag of I-don't-know-what. I look to my left, and saw no one. Then I looked over to my other side, and I saw Liam. Oh, thank God.

His face was scruffy from not shaving and his eyes were closed. The bags underneath them were prominent, and he looked generally unkempt. Probably from the days chasing after me and however many days I had already been here.

I was still staring as him when he stretched out his arms. He leaned forward to stretch his back, then straightened himself in the chair. After rubbing his eyes, he looked over to the bed.

"Ruby!" He placed his hand on my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. "Oh, darlin'."

"Hey," My voice was weak, but it was there.

"I'm so glad you're awake," He said, smiling as he leaned down and kissed my head, and my nose, and then my lips.

"What happened?" I asked, and when he pulled away, his smile had faded. "Just tell me."

He sighed. "You're still in the ICU. They can't get your fever down below 102, and that's worrying them. Your oxygen levels also keep dipping down into the 80s when they take the oxygen off."

I nodded, taking it all in. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Anything else?"

Liam brushed a stray piece of hair out of my eyes. "Whatever they made you drink, it caused ulcers in your stomach. You have internal bleeding that they are trying to get under control. Do you remember throwing up blood in the car?"

I shook my head. I only remembered throwing up, but nothing about it being blood.

"They think there might be an infection, and that's one of the reasons they can't get your fever down. They can't even figure out what they gave you to put you in this condition."

I could not remember anything about the bottle, other than it was a dark brown color, obscuring the appearance of the liquid. That, and it tasted so bitter I was wincing at the thought.

"Don't worry, we're going to get you better," Liam stroked my cheek and I closed in, leaning into his hand.

"Will you lay with me," I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

He did not hesitate. I scooted over and he got onto the hospital bed next to me. I rolled onto my side, careful not to pull the IV, and rested my head on his chest. Despite having a fever, my body felt cold and he felt warm and suddenly everything felt right.

The feeling didn't last long. I had drifted off into a fuzzy sleep; it felt like I had just closed my eyes for a second, and suddenly Liam was jolting up. I heard an alarm like beeping coming from a machine. It took me a minute to realize it was mine.

A nurse came running in, going straight to the machine.

"Ruby?" She called my name, tapping my arm. But everything seemed… fuzzy. She was blurry. Liam was blurry.

"Honey, hold still, alright?" She had a thermometer in her hand, and with a swift swipe across my forehead, she got a reading. I felt her stiffen beside me.

"What's going on?" I hadn't even noticed Liam got off the bed. He came up beside the nurse.

"Her sats dropped… her oxygen. Okay, hold on…" She frantically moved to the other size of the bed and turned a dial. The air going into my nose felt stronger and the beeping slowly stopped.

"I just turned her oxygen up. But we can't keep doing that… she was already on 3 liters, I had to turn it up to 5. We are supposed to be weaning her off of it." The nurse seemed so flustered and I felt bad. But why was everything still fuzzy and why was the room starting to spin?

Liam placed his hand on my forehead and it was freezing but it felt so good. I let out a sigh.

"What was her temp? It just skyrocketed!" I heard him say.

The nurse was quiet for a minute. "I have to contact the physician. The antipyretics aren't working. We need to get her some cold blankets or an ice bath..."

"How high is it?" Liam snapped. I could hear the annoyance in his voice, but it was mostly to mask fear. His hand was shaking, I could feel it from where it lay on my head.

"She's at 105.4." She stated.

Liam jerked a bit. He reached down and started pulling the blankets off of me, and I wanted to protest but could not find the words. When the skin touched the air, my body started to shake.

"Give her at least one blanket," The nurse grabbed one from him and covered me back up. "The shaking will just make it worse. Her body is trying to warm itself up, but it does not realize it is already burning up.

The shaking subsided a bit once I was curled back under the thin sheet.

"Well, go do something! Go find something to help!" Liam shouted. "Please. Please, you have to do something!"

The nurse hurried out. I turned my head to look at Liam, and saw that a couple tears were trailing down his face. With all the strength I could muster, I lifted a hand and grabbed his from where it dangled at his side. He jumped, then grasped it tightly and leaned down beside the bed.

"Ruby, just hang on, okay?" He tried to smile, but couldn't. His face fell and he rested his head on our intertwined hands and started to cry. It was breaking my heart.

"I will," I said. My voice was so quiet, even I could barely hear it. But Liam heard, and he lifted his head and leaned over, giving me a kiss. I tried to stay awake, but the fuzziness turned to darkness and I passed out.


	2. Part 2

When I finally came to, I was surprised to see that Liam was not sitting next to me. Instead, Vida was there, her legs crossed as she read some magazine. On further inspection, I realized she was not reading it, but rather tearing off strips of the pages, wadding them up, and attempting to throw them into the waste basket on the other side of the room. I could see several paper balls scattered all over the room.

I lifted my head and attempted to scoot up higher in the bed. My whole body was aching as if someone had hit me with a hammer on every square inch of my body.

"Awake, huh, boo?"

I looked over and Vida had put her magazine aside and had her full attention on me.

"Where's Liam?" I asked the question, but the voice did not sound like mine. It was barely above a whisper and so hoarse. It made my throat hurt to just get those words out.

"I sent him away to go get some sleep. He hasn't slept for about three days, aside from closing his eyes every now and then."

Of course. Liam was exhausted. And of course, he would not leave my side unless someone else was there.

"I'll tell you what, boo," Vida said. "You sure put on a show after he left."

I gave her a confused look. "What?"

She shook her head. She was trying to act tough, but I noticed the way her hands were shaking. She was holding them together in her lap, trying to hide it.

"Well, after he left and I took over his post, the nurse came in with these weird "hypothermia" blankets, they called them. Basically they were like, kept in a freezer. Weird shit. But they were trying to stop your brain from melting. They also brought in a basin with cold water and wash clothes," Vida stopped for a minute, like she was thinking. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Before they could start cooling you down with the water, you had a seizure. Like, full-blown body convulsing, foaming mouth…"

I stared at her in shock for a minute. A seizure? I had never had one before, unless I counted what happened when Cate overdosed me with penicillin.

Vida pinched her nose, closing her eyes. "Then you just stopped. I thought you were dead. There were like four nurses in here all shouting and checking things and calling for people and I was just sitting here. Your face went pale and I just… I thought you were dead,

"After what felt like forever, you decided breathing was a good idea and I realized you weren't dead. Gave me a fucking heart attack though. The nurse said it was because your fever was so high. So they just continued doing what they were doing and said they would watch you closely."

I laid back and stared at the ceiling for a while. Then, a took a deep breath and asked, "Does Liam know?"

Vida shook her head. "He is sleeping really hard in the waiting room. Drooling and everything."

I nodded. "Good. He doesn't need to know."

"Well, boo," Vida said. "He is going to find out eventually."

"Well, eventually doesn't have to be today or tomorrow."

Vida shrugged. "I guess."

She stood up then and came to the side of the bed.

"If you weren't so messed up, I'd punch you for scaring me like that," She said.

I looked over, expecting to see a smirk on her face, but instead I noticed it was drawn. Tired. Worried. She looked like she hadn't slept much either.

"When I get better, you can punch me all you like," I told her.

Vida chuckled. "It's a deal, boo."


	3. Part 3

Later the next day, Liam finally woke up and relieved Vida of her post. She was sitting cross legged on the end of the bed and we were playing a very competitive game of Go Fish. He walked in, his hair looking like he had tried to smooth it down with his hands, but to no avail, and his eyes still a bit unfocused with sleep.

"Hey," He said in his sleepy voice which made my heart skip a beat. The monitor let out a beep and I blushed. There was no hiding anything here.

Lee just smiled and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

I noticed Vida shoot me a look before quickly looking back at her cards. I don't know if I was supposed to notice or not, but I ignored it.

"I'm fine. I think better, actually."

Liam smiled, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. "That's the best news I've heard in days, darlin'."

"Well, looks like we aren't going to finish this game, so I'm just gonna say I'm the champion and head on out," Vida said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and putting the cards back in the box.

"Alright, but once I'm out of here, I'm getting a rematch!" I called after her as she sauntered out of the room. Which left just Liam and me.

He brushed a hand down my cheek, trailing it down my neck and arm.

"You feel cooler. They must have brought your fever down." He stated.

I nodded. That is all he needed to know. Since they had brought it down earlier, it had stayed put at a steady 100-101. They were now treating me with IV antibiotics, deciding it was best to treat the infection now before my body tried to burn me alive. And so far, everything seemed okay. They were still concerned about my oxygen level; they brought me back down to 3 liters but anything under that was causing my numbers to drop again. And there was still concern about ulcers and that that was where the infection could be coming from. But overall, I felt okay.

Liam leaned in a kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're feeling more like your old self. Maybe they will let us out of here soon."

I gave him a small smile. I wanted nothing more than to go home with him and be away from the beeping machines and IV lines and antiseptic smells. I wished it would only be another day or two… but I knew better. The doctor had come in while Liam was still sleeping. He explained they were keeping me here until further notice… needing further blood work and possibly an MRI to check for any other possible reason I had the seizure. They needed to rule out everything. Since they could not identify the poison, they had to cover all their bases to make sure they did not miss anything.

"Maybe they will," I finally replied.

For a while, he just stayed with me. I started to get tired and he crawled onto the bed and pulled me close. I felt safer when I was in his arms and quickly fell asleep. It felt like only 5 minutes later when the lights were turned on and Liam was shifting on the mattress.

"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Daly," a low voice, and I recognized it as one of the doctors. I slowly open my eyes, watching Liam scoot off the bed and slide into the chair.

The doctor was in the doorway, tall with blonde hair and a long, white coat on. He walked into the room, holding a file of papers in his hand. He placed them on the table by the bed and cleared his throat.

"If you don't mind, I would like to go over your treatment plan?" He asked.

I just shrugged. "Okay."

He flipped open the file. "Well, first, let's go over what we already know. One, your oxygen levels are slowly improving, but still are not where we want them. Our plan is to just keep trying to wean you down, and worst case scenario, we may have to prescribe you some sort of breathing treatment while at home. But I really believe we can successfully wean you off of it all together,"

I nodded and he continued.

"We are still concerned about the possibly of ulceration in your stomach. The only real way to diagnose is to perform a procedure. I didn't want to suggest it before because you were very unstable, but now it would be safe to go forward."

I sat straighter at the mention of a procedure and I noticed Liam shift uncomfortably. "What kind of procedure?"

"It is really simple, honestly. We numb your throat and we guide a small camera down into your stomach just to look around. It is a quick procedure with minimal side effects. At most, you'll have a sore throat for a couple days," He explained, his face all forced optimism.

He must have noticed my skeptical look because he added, "We can discuss it at the end. Anyway, moving on… your bloodwork came back and we found gram-negative bacteria in your blood which would explain the infection and fever. The antibiotics are working wonderfully, though, and it is clearing up nicely. I am very pleased with the way your temperature has remained low and the antipyretics appear to be working well."

"When does she get to go home?"

I turned to Liam the same time the doctor did. Lee had his arms crossed and one foot was tapping the ground anxiously.

The doctor scratched his head, turning his attention back to the charts. "Well, as for a discharge date, we are still unsure. As we all know, we hit a bump in the road yesterday that has set us back."

I stiffened.

"Are you talking about the fever? I thought you said it was under control?" Liam challenged.

"It is now. But before I can feel safe discharging her, I need to figure out why her body reacted the way it did."

Confusion swept over Lee's face. I felt my stomach drop. "Reacted how?"

Now the doctor looked perplexed. "Did no one talk to you?"

Liam shook his head. "A friend pushed me out of the room as the nurse left to get supplies. I only came back a few hours ago."

I was about to interrupt, but thought better of it. Liam was going to pry it out of me eventually.

"Well, as you know her temperature reached over 105, which is nearing the danger level for thermal brain damage. As the nurses were trying to bring it down, she went into a febrile grand mal seizure and became unresponsive afterwards. After several minutes, she came out of it and her temperature came down, but the fact she went into a seizure is giving us concern and we want to observe her for a while before releasing her."

I was staring at my hands where they rested in my lap. I could feel Liam's eyes on me but I couldn't look up. The doctor stayed and said a few more things, asked about the procedure again, and asked about an MRI.

I just stared at him blankly, and Liam dismissed him with a simple, "We will let you know."

The doctor took his cue and left, which left just the two of us.

I waited for him to say something, but was caught off guard when Liam ran into the private bathroom and began to vomit.

"Lee?" I called to him. I would have gotten up and went to him, but I was still attached to the IV and my legs did not feel the most dependable.

A few minutes later, the toilet flushed and he came out. His eyes were red and puffy and I knew he had been crying. Without a word, he sat down on the bed. I scooted over and he laid down, turning to face me. He lifted a hand and trailed it down my cheek. I studied his face. He looked sullen. Any rest he had gotten was immediately ripped away and he looked even more exhausted than before.

He was quiet for so long, I had closed my eyes and when he finally spoke, I startled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. I noticed he had rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"I didn't… you were so stressed out already," I whispered. "I didn't want to add on to it."

He blew out a breath. "I need to know. I need to know if you're alright but more importantly I need to know if you aren't."

"I didn't want you to worry."

He turned toward me again, cupping my face in his hands. "I want to worry. I want to know everything that is going on. I want to know what to expect. I need to know if… I need to know if you aren't getting better."

Tears welled up in his eyes and I wiped them away with my hand.

"I am getting better and I am going to be fine," I smiled. "I feel myself getting stronger every day. I am not going to let this destroy me. I have already made it through so much, something like this is not going to be the end."

Liam grabbed my hand from where it rested on his cheek and squeezed it. "Promise?"

"I promise."

He kissed me gently and I tried to lean in for more but he turned away.

"Not right now. Get stronger and that will be your 'Welcome Home' present."


	4. Part 4

The next day, I was moved out of ICU. My vitals and temperature had remained stable for 24 hours and they determined I no longer needed to be there. It was one step closer to going home, and I would take anything at this point.

Later in the afternoon, the nurse came in with consent papers for the procedure the doctor had spoken of the previous day. I glanced over at Liam, who was dozing in the chair, his head hanging back and his mouth open a bit. I didn't want to bother him.

"What exactly is this procedure?" I asked, thumbing through the papers.

"It's called an Endoscopy," She stated. "Basically, it's a camera attached to a hollow tube. The doctor will insert it down your throat and pass it through your esophagus, stomach, and into your small intestines. The camera allows him to visualize your intestines and check for any damage."

I involuntarily rubbed at my throat. "It sounds awful."

The nurse put her hand on my shoulder. "You will be numbed, and they will also give you some mild anesthesia. You should not remember a thing."

"Is that all they will do? Just look?" I questioned.

"If an ulcer is detected, he is likely remove a small piece for biopsy so we can determine if there is any dangerous bacteria in your stomach lining."

"Oh," I picked up the pen, tapping it on the paper.

"Do you need to think about it?" The nurse took a step back. "I can leave the papers with you to look over."

I shook my head. "No, no… I'll do it."

With my signature in all the proper places, the nurse collected the papers and left the room. I let out a sigh, settling back against the pillows and closing my eyes.

The procedure was set up for early the next morning. I was to maintain a "nothing-by-mouth" diet until then. Luckily for me, I hadn't been able to eat anything in days, receiving all my nutrition through the damn needle in my arm, so it was no big deal. I didn't think I would be able to stomach anything anyway. Just thinking about food made me nauseous.

I saw Liam stir out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to look at him. He was stretching out his arms, causing his shirt to come up a little bit. I blushed and he caught me. He flashed me that classic Stewart smile and leaned his elbows on the bed.

"How are you feeling, darlin'?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay."

When he did not seem satisfied, I glanced away and sighed.

"Okay, I'm just really tired and my stomach kind of hurts. And I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" He pried.

"Well," I picked at the blanket, avoiding his gaze. "While you were sleeping, I signed papers to let them do that procedure."

When he looked confused, I explained further.

"The one the doctor talked about yesterday, the Endoscopy. Where they will look at my stomach."

"Oh, that one," He said, finally remembering. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. My stomach hurts, Liam. I should be dying to eat real food and I'm not. Just the thought…" Involuntarily, I gagged, and Liam jumped up, putting a hand on my back.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" He stammered.

I quickly recovered, nodding my head in response. "I'm fine."

"You're sure you're not going to throw up?" His words were laced with worry, and I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm sure."

If only I had remained so sure. It was as if my body was taunting me. As soon as one thing got better, another got worse. My fever was down to 99.7. The antibiotics were working against whatever had been in my blood. I was down to 2L of oxygen too, slowly weaning myself off of it.

That's when the stomach pains got worse. It wasn't just nausea now. It was like someone was stabbing a burning knife repeatedly into my abdomen. It would dull into a dull, nauseous ache, then return full force. At its worst, it left me in tears.

"Shhh, Ruby, I'm here…" Liam was rubbing my back, up and down with firm strokes. I was doubled over on the bed, my head on my knees, sucking in air as I sobbed over the pain.

"…hurts…" Was all I was able to say, gritting my teeth. I could feel sweat dripping off my forehead and nose.

Liam glanced toward the door, clearly irritated. He had called two nurses in already, and they were trying their best to contact the doctor. They had explained multiple times there was nothing they could do without the proper orders, but the Gastrointestinal Physician was currently out. They had paged him, but had not gotten any response. Their hands were tied.

"What can I do?" Liam asked, continuing to rub my back with one hand and pulling my hair off my neck with the other.

I just shook my head, holding onto my stomach with two hands. Then, the sharp pain hit full force with a mix of intense nausea and I knew what was coming a second too late.

Liam jumped back just as a thick wave of dark red blood erupted from my mouth right into my lap and the bed. It wasn't just one wave either. It kept coming, and it was not making the pain any better.

"We need help, NOW!" Liam screamed. Snapping out of his shock, he grabbed a gray basin from the sink and held it under my chin just as another wave of sludge came out. It looked a bit like coffee grounds, dark and definitely not like anything I had seen anyone throw up before.

In less than a minute, the same two nurses from before and one more entered the room.

"Oh, God," I heard one of them mutter while the other one was immediately paging the on-call doctor to come immediately.

"Sweetheart, hey, look at me," The first nurse said, kneeling in front of me. My hands were shaking and were both covered in the bloody vomit, but she took hold of one (wearing gloves, of course) and gave it a firm squeeze. "Do you know where you are?"

"…hospital," I mumbled, feeling my stomach contract as it attempted to expel even more of its contents. But when I heaved, nothing came out except a thin string of saliva. My eyes were getting droopy and any energy I had was sapped out of me. I slumped forward, but Liam and the nurse caught me and leaned me back against the bed. My vision was starting to blur.

"What happened?" I heard a loud, deep voice, but my eyes were closed and I could not see who it was. I assumed it was the doctor.

"She has been having stomach pains all evening, but we couldn't get through to Dr. Wilson. She is scheduled for an Endoscopy in the morning to check for ulcers."

"Well, I see we do not really require the procedure now, do we?" The voice boomed. It did not sound demeaning, but very frustrated. Things were not supposed to get this out of control. "We need to prep her for surgery. What are her most recent blood draws?"

I heard some vigorous typing, but then a pause. Silence.

"Rebecca?" The doctor asked.

"Um," There was a couple more clicking sounds. "Her labs were drawn a couple hours ago and we had not had time to review them yet."

"Rebecca, what were her labs?" He demanded.

"Her hemoglobin was 6."

I could hear the sharp inhale. "Okay Rebecca. Go and start an infusion of O- STAT! Ashley and Maggie, get her prepped for surgery and bring her to OR 3 in 30 minutes!"

There was a lot of fumbling. Rebecca left the room as quickly as possible, and I felt one of the nurses remove my hospital gown that was now saturated in blood.

"Sir, we have to ask you to go to the wai—"

Liam cut her off. "What the hell is going on? Surgery?!"

"Sir…"

"No, I am not going anywhere until you tell me what is happening to her!"

"Y-you can t-tell him," I rasped, giving a slight nod even though my eyes were still closed.

There was a pause, like she was trying to determine if she should say anything or not. "Well…"

"Ashley, she said it was okay. Hurry up, we have to go!" The other nurse, Maggie, snapped.

"Okay, so her hemoglobin is low. That means she has been losing a lot of blood, and since she threw up so much blood, it means she is bleeding in her stomach. She is severely anemic, which means we need to give her more blood or else her body won't have enough for the surgery. She needs to surgery because the doctor has to repair the ulcers, or she will just keep bleeding."

Right when she finished, I heard Rebecca return with the blood.

"Sir, you really need to go to the waiting room," She stated. "I'm sorry, but we need to get her prepped for surgery."

There was silence again. Liam gave my hand a squeeze then bent down to kiss my forehead. "Be strong, darlin'. I'll see you when you're all patched up."

I nodded. It was all I had the strength to do. I could feel myself slowly wearing down more and more. There was more fumbling, more talking between the nurse. One of them left to walk with Liam and the other two continued with the pre-surgery prep. Soon, I could not understand them anymore as every buzzed out and I lost consciousness.


	5. Part 5

There was just darkness when I started to come to. There was the faint beeping of a machine, the feeling of tape stuck to my hand, keeping the IV in place. But I couldn't see anything… and something didn't feel right. I tried to close my mouth, lick my lips, but I couldn't. There was something in the way… I could feel it now. Something was keeping my mouth open, and there was a tube down my throat. Why was it there? I tried to cough, tried to dislodge it. I didn't need it there. I kept coughing, and I heard someone shuffle beside me.

"Hey! She's awake!"

The voice was muffled. I couldn't tell who it was.

There was more shuffling, more movement. People were coming into the room. They lifted something off my eyes - so that's why I couldn't see.

I squeezed them shut, the bright lights immediately making them hurt. Slowly, I opened them again. There was a nurse standing over me, and a doctor. I looked around the room, and that's when I saw him.

Liam was standing in the corner, his hands behind his back. His eyes were red and puffy, face pale; he looked exhausted.

I moaned, looking back at the nurse and motioning toward the tube.

"Discontinue the breathing tube," the doctor instructed, looking over at the machine. "Her sats are good, blood pressure is good… take it out and monitor her. We can out her on the Bi-PAP if needed."

The nurse nodded, and within minutes, the tube was removed from my throat.

I started coughing, my mouth feeling dry but my throat feeling so sore. I was groggy, like someone had drugged me. Likely, they had. How long had I even been out?

The doctor stayed for a few minutes, watching my breathing, before excusing himself. The nurse left soon after, leaving just Liam.

He hesitated before coming to the bed. I turned my head to look at him, watching the way he was wringing his hands.

"Hey, darlin'," He whispered, reaching a hand toward my face, but stopping right before he touched me.

He was scared. He didn't want to hurt me.

It was breaking my heart. I wanted to reassure him, but I was afraid to talk.

Instead, I opted to reach a hand over, wincing as I noticed the IV taped onto it. Liam's expression softened and he took it in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

He pulled his chair closer to the bed so he could sit down, but he didn't let go of my hand.

We sat there in silence for a while. The only sound was the machine beeping in time with my pulse. I glanced around the room, noticing that this was not the room I had been in before. No, this was back in the ICU. I sighed, finally getting the courage to speak.

"What happened?" The words came out small and weak, but Liam's head shot up when he heard them.

"It's so good to hear you talk again," He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "You don't even know."

I swallowed, wincing at my sore throat. "What happened?" I repeated.

Liam stroked my hair back, tucking a few stray pieces behind my ear. He was worrying his lip.

"Well," He started, letting out a soft sigh. "You remember going down to surgery?"

I nodded.

"Well, they gave you a couple units of blood cause your red blood cells were low. They took you down, everything was going good. But then it was taking longer than expected. We were all getting worried.

"Finally, one of the nurses came up. You were bleeding so much they had to give you more blood. One of the ulcers had nearly eroded through the lining. But they finally got it under control and brought you back up after four hours."

"Then why am I in the ICU?" I asked.

Liam rubbed his temple. "Yeah, that wasn't the end of it. Like I said, they brought you back up, but you weren't waking up. Your temperature spiked to 104. Turns out, you had an infection in your abdomen. Your stomach was so hard… there was fluid building up. They put a tube down your nose and into your stomach to suction it out, pumped you full of antibiotics… but then your breathing got really shallow and they decided to intubate. And that's when they sent you here." He finished, rubbing at his eyes. I saw a tear run down his cheek, and I removed my hand from his to wipe it away.

"It's been three days since then. They've been keeping you sedated to help you heal. I'm so glad you're finally awake."

I leaned back against the pillows, reaching up to feel my face. The tube was still there, taped against my cheek.

"Nothing is getting better," I croaked.

Liam grabbed my hand away from my face, shaking his head. "No, no, it's okay. Listen, they said this morning that your white blood cell count is back down. That, and your fever broke yesterday. The infection is gone, Ruby."

"Really?"

"Yes! They started tapering you off the sedatives, hoping you would wake up. And look… you did."

Liam gave me a smile, pulling my hand and resting it on his cheek. He was stubbly from not shaving, bags under his eyes, but he was still so beautiful. I longed to be in his arms at this moment, kissing his lips.

I wanted him next to me, but there was too many wires and tubes. I tried to move, but kept pulling on something every time I did. Frustrated, I gave up, and resorted in holding his hand, rubbing small circles into his palm with my thumb.

The nurse checked in periodically, hanging a new bag of antibiotics and checking my vitals. Everything was staying stable, and my temp was down to 99.2. As soon as the current bag of antibiotic was finished running, she was discharging back to the Post-Critical floor.

Slowly, things started to improve. I was moved back to the Post-Critical floor, and my temperature stayed at a normal level. The infection proved to be gone, finally! No more chills wracking my body or heat flashes that made me want to crawl out of my skin.

The tube was removed from my nose, which was the strangest sensation ever. I gagged slightly when it slid up my throat, but was relieved to have it out. I was able to take sips of water, soothing my dry mouth and sore throat.

Gradually, my strength returned. The oxygen was removed and I was able to keep my levels up. The antibiotics were finished and the IV was removed. For the first time in over a week, I was free of all tubes and wires.

Before I stood up from the bed, I motioned for Liam to come over.

"Just in case I fall," I told him, holding onto his hands.

"I won't let you fall, sweetheart," He promised, giving my hands a squeeze.

I smiled up at him, then took a deep breath and counted to three.

My legs trembled underneath me, but they stayed steady. I straightened myself out, feeling tremendous relief to be out of that damn bed.

Then, I wrapped my arms around Liam's neck and kissed him.

Our lips touched and it felt like fireworks were going off in my head. I was craving more, craving him… I stood on my tippy-toes and kissed him harder. He kissed back. He placed his hands on my waist, pulling me closer against him. When we finally broke apart, I placed my head on his shoulder and let out a content sigh.

"I've missed that," I whispered, feeling my heart flutter in my chest.

Liam chuckled. "Oh, trust me. I have too."

The next day, I was free to go.

I all but ran for the truck, Liam trailing behind me.

We jumped in the truck and sped away as fast as we could from that dreadful place. I was ready to move on from this experience. Ready to move past it and put it all behind me so I could look forward to a brighter future.


End file.
